Acer Predator XB271HU Gaming Monitor Review

It's like a sports car morphed into a gaming monitor.

By Matt Elliott

Posted: 18 Apr 2018 10:57 pm

Be sure to visit IGN Tech for all the latest comprehensive hands-on reviews and best-of roundups. Note that if you click on one of these links to buy the product, IGN may get a share of the sale. For more, read our Terms of Use.IGN has reviewed plenty of Predator monitors before, including the 27-inch and 32-inch 4k models, but the XB271HU monitor we're looking at today may just fit exactly into the "sweet spot" for most gamers (See it on Amazon).That's because it's sporting an IPS panel running at 2560 x 1440 at 144Hz with G-Sync, so it's got pretty much everything an Nvidia-owning gamer could ask for in a display. Plus if you're into the whole "gamer look" it's got that as well, with its pointy red feet. At $799.99 MSRP it's on the high end of the price scale however, so let's see if it's worth it.

Design and Features

The first thing you’ll notice about the Acer Predator XB1 is it’s exceptionally well put together. With big feet and a thick neck, the sturdy stand keeps the large, 27-inch panel firmly rooted in place. Mount the display on the stand, plug it in, and the next things you’ll notice are its wafer-thin screen bezels and crisp 1440p picture. Acer’s Predator XB1 line of gaming monitors features either IPS or TN panels and range from a 23.8-inch 1080p model to a 32-inch, 4K model. My Predator XB1 test unit (model XB271HU) sits in the middle; it features a 27-inch, IPS panel with Nvidia G-Sync, a 4ms response time, and a 144Hz refresh rate that can be overclocked to 165Hz.

As far as its design goes, Acer wants you to know at first glance that the Predator XB1 is built for gaming. Along with the aggressive Predator name, the monitor features aggressive styling. You can’t miss the big, red feet on the base. They are brushed aluminum with an angular look that brings to mind a Transformer. To that end, the wide neck offers a ton of flexibility. It lets you rotate the display 30 degrees in either direction while providing six inches of height adjustment and 40 degrees of tilt adjustment (five degrees forward and 35 degree back).

You can also rotate it into portrait orientation as well. No matter how you position the display, the heavy, wide base and thick neck keep it from moving or wobbling. The only downside to all of this sturdiness is the amount of desk real estate the monitor occupies. The wide-spaced, large feet mean this display isn’t great for cramped desks.

The buttons do not provide as intuitive a control as the tiny joystick you’ll find on other monitors.

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Unlike the stand, the design of the display itself is fairly understated. The only departure from its all-black design is the Transformer-like Predator logo and name badge on the bottom bezel and the light next to the power button, which glows blue when the monitor is on. The screen bezel on the side and top is nearly non-existent, and the bottom bezel measures only 0.9 inches wide. Five buttons in the sit next to the power button in the lower-right to navigate the OSD. The buttons do not provide as intuitive a control as the tiny joystick you’ll find on some monitors, but you’ll get the hang of them after a a few days.

The display features features two video inputs: one DisplayPort and one HDMI. Opt for DisplayPort and you’ll be able to use Nvidia G-Sync, the company’s adaptive refresh rate technology, and a refresh rate of 144Hz that you can overclock to 165Hz. With HDMI, you are stuck with a refresh rate of 60Hz.

In other connectivity news, the display features one upstream USB port and four downstream USB 3.0 ports. The downstream ports are split, with two on the back panel and two on the left edge of the display. Lastly, there’s a 3.5mm audio jack on the back panel for external speakers or headphones. Having the headphone jack on the left edge would make it easier to find than having to reach around back, but you’re likely to need it because the display’s internal speakers are predictably garbage.

Performance

...most importantly for fast-twitch gamers, you should experience little to no motion blur.

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I used Lagom LCD monitor test pages to measure performance including gamma, black and white levels, color gradient, and response time. Gamma was just off of its target of 2.2 coming in between 2.0 and 2.1, but I did not see any evidence of a washed out image when playing games, viewing photos or navigating Windows. Black and white levels were good but not perfect; all but two boxes were visible on both the black level test and white saturation test after making slight adjustments to brightness and contrast. It did better on the gradient test where it showed no banding. On the response time test; the display was nearly perfect, scoring a perfect 0 on all rows except the first two, where I scored its slightest of flicker as a -10.

The take-away from these Lagom test results? Black and white levels are strong but you may lose some detail in very dark scenes and bright areas. But banding -- where color and brightness variations show lines and bands rather than smooth color -- will not be a problem. And most importantly for fast-twitch gamers, you should experience little to no motion blur.

Gaming

Sure enough, gaming was super-smooth at its native resolution of 2560x1440 and stock refresh rate of 144Hz. In both Battlefield and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, quick-moving sequences looked natural with no stuttering, even with panicked, quick pans to target enemies. Nvidia’s G-Sync did its thing in preventing tearing.

As an IPS panel, the display offers a 4ms response time, which is slower than the 1ms you’ll get with a TN panel. The slower the response time, the more likely you are to see some ghosting, but I saw none. The advantage of an IPS panel is wider viewing angles, which is important on a larger display like this, where you are looking a bit off axis at the edges of the display. The full display -- edge to edge -- looked outstanding when seated in front of it when playing game or watch full-screen videos.

Purchasing Guide

The Acer Predator XB271HU has an MSRP of $699.99 and its held to that price pretty consistently, but recently it has been selling online for closer to $600:

Verdict

The Acer Predator XB271HU pairs well with GeForce-based rigs, where you can employ G-Sync for smooth gameplay. The biggest drawback to an IPS panel like this is its 4ms response time, but I’d happily take it over a TN panel just for the wider viewing angles, plus I saw no evidence of ghosting. The sturdy base and thin bezels are also highlights, and make the Acer Predator XB1 an easy recommendation for gamers on the prowl for a 27-inch, 1440p display.

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Acer Predator XB271HU Gaming Monitor Review

8.8

great

Solidly built and G-Sync enabled, the Acer Predator XB271HU is a great choice for 1440p gaming.